Let things be as they are

Let things be as they are.”

Wherever You Go There You Are, p. 99

I came across this quote reading about “going inside” while meditating. That is, taking it internally. The more I meditate the….I don’t want to say “easier” but, it takes less time for me to accept that things are how they are. That a lot of things I do won’t be able to change that, for better or worse. Which sucks, but it’s also quite liberating. In GORUCK terms, it’s like quitting an event. It sucks. But on the other hand, you don’t have to GORUCK your stupid face off. And that’s OK.

Accept that your stupid faces are stupid

Let things be as they are.

How did I apply that to my day today? It’s probably not what they had in mind but I embraced being tired. I’ve not been sleeping as much as I should (pretty sure most people don’t) and trying to do two-a-days and I’ve just been feeling tired. So I came home, ate, and read for 30 minutes then said “to hell with this” and just lay down to sleep. Another thing about meditation, it’s a great sleep aid. Especially if you’re laying down. I no longer try to meditate while laying down unless I want to be Instant Sleep Master™. But basically focusing on just your breath over and over and over again can help tune out the distractions or, if they come in, make you less anxious about it. Then focus on the breath again.

Accept that you’re a shit bag litterer.

Let things be as they are.

How did I apply that to my day today? I started up playing Words with Friends again. I don’t know if I’ll play as often as I used to as I’m slightly getting burned out from it after a month already but it’s a good distraction. I don’t know if I need more distractions but without the giant Facebook time sink in my life temporarily, it’s good to feed the phone-checking addiction. But the ‘letting things be as they are’ part is that I’m terrible at this game. I keep getting wrecked by like a billion points. Granted, I phone it in half the time instead of spending a bunch of time giving it better effort and maybe I should change that – honor the game and my opponent.

Accept that you won’t pull 4 plates

Let things be as they are.

How did I apply that to my day today? I can’t say that I did but writing just now it made me think of the Five Stages of Grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance aka DABDA from Psychology class in high school). I guess it’s like jumping straight to the last stage of grief – acceptance. I’m not grieving anything in particular and I happen to be going through one of the meditation courses in the 10% Happier app called “Pro tips with JG.” The lesson was “Watching a desire pass” and truth be told, I don’t remember every bit of the lesson as they tend to blend into one another. But they at least start talking more about not judging yourself and maybe not “dealing” with emotions or feelings or desires, but acknowledging them, and that’s a good step.